Contact Support

Configure Camera Alarm Trigger Events for New Alarms

Learn how to configure your camera for alarm trigger events

This article is a guide for New Alarms. Refer to this article if you have classic Alarms. See New Alarms vs Classic Alarms if you are unsure which version of Alarms you have.

Vehicle detection events are not supported as alarm triggers in New Alarms.

When should a detection occur?

When a Verkada camera detects an object, green bounding boxes appear over the detected object(s). You can see these bounding boxes when scrubbing through a camera’s people and vehicle motion search or scrubbing through a camera’s historical video.

Detection is determined when the center bottom of a person’s bounding box crosses a line or sits inside a loitering region (in the majority of cases, it is a person’s feet).

Trigger Point

Trigger Point

Configure alarm triggers

1

In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms .

2

Select the Alarm site that you want to configure.

3

In the left navigation, select Partitions > Select a camera partition.

4

Under Devices :

a. Click Add Camera to add a new camera trigger**.** b. Hover over a camera and click > Edit triggers to edit an existing camera trigger.

5

Configure on of the following triggers:

Alarm triggers

Person detection

Person detection is determined whenever any part of a person’s bounding box intersects with the configured protected area. You can choose Protect Entire area to select the entire camera frame.

For PTZ cameras:

Full-frame person detection is the only supported trigger for PTZ cameras.

  • Given that PTZ cameras only support full frame person detection, ensure that during armed hours the PTZ FOV only covers areas where no one should be present. Ensure that sidewalks, public walkways, and other high‑traffic zones are not covered by the FOV.

  • The PTZ camera can have multiple active regions. If setting PTZ up as alarm trigger then configure only one active region during armed hours.

    • If multiple regions are enabled, there is a risk that the camera may re‑position right after an alarm trigger, potentially making it harder for monitoring agents to track the unauthorized person.

Loitering detection

Loitering detection allows you to define a region with a freeform polygon and define how long a person has to stay in that region before detection occurs.

Define up to 6 freeform polygon regions and define how long a person has to stay in that region before detection occurs.

Loitering detection can be set for 10s, 15s, 30s, 1 min or 2min.

How it works

1

Once the person’s trigger point intersects the loitering region, the timer begins.

2

If the trigger point remains in this region for the configured time (one minute default) a detection event occurs.

3

If the person’s trigger point briefly exits and re-enters the loitering region within 4 seconds, the counter continues.

4

If the camera loses track of an individual (for example, walking out of frame) or the trigger point is outside the loitering region for more than 4 seconds, the counter resets.

Line Crossing

Line crossing provides more control and granularity in a trigger by allowing you to define a unidirectional or bidirectional line that a person has to cross before detection occurs.

You can define a maximum of 5 lines and choose the direction you expect people to cross. ​

Reduce false alarms

Once the protected area is configured, you can see how many alarms are expected to be raised from the selected camera based on the arm schedule and area to protect in the last week.

The camera should be online and looking at the same FOV for at least one week for accurate alarm prediction.

1

In Verkada Command, go to All Products > New Alarms .

2

Select the Alarm site that you want to configure.

3

In the left navigation, select Partitions > Select a camera partition.

4

Under Devices :

a. Click Add Camera to add a new camera trigger**.** b. Hover over a camera and click > Edit triggers to edit an existing camera trigger.

5

Click Show Examples to view detections from the past week based on the current arm schedule.

6

Click this arm schedule, and a timeline will appear. A gray curve on the timeline represents past detections. Click on any section of the curve to view the detections and gain insight into what would have triggered the alarm.

7

Adjust the schedule or trigger settings (area/loitering time/line) as needed to reduce false or excessive alarms. For example, you can increase the loitering duration or refine the Area to Protect to exclude high-traffic areas.

Need more help? Contact Verkada Support.

Last updated

Was this helpful?